Interested on peoples opinion on what paint is best on softwood windows? Mirco-porous- does it actually work?Linseed based? Block it all out with an oil based 'dulux' style paint - and wait for it to crack. Stains I feel are good as the soak in, but some people like the painted look..

I was in London yesterday looking at a job, on a house with lots of cracked paint (and now rotten) doors and windows and it made me realise walking around the area how much of a problem this was with lots of the properties.

Last window I made I went for a Dulux three pack system. It still looks perfect but how to deal with it when the paint starts to break down will be the problem. Sealing is fine while it is sealed but trouble in later life.

I have tried micro porous paints. If the instructions are followed (they often aren't) they are ok.

But I think the only two solutions are:

1) Lots of maintenance - repainting with the above every five years or so, exposure dependent2) Replacing them with something better (alu, or getting ten or more years from factory finished painted softwood, again exposure dependent)

I'm a big fan of linseed oil paint. Mine was sourced from Ingliby Traditional and seems to work well. Only 3 years in, but it is doing very well unlike a Dulux product I used a year earlier.

Linseed paint is a huge pain - drying time is temperature dependant and it can only sensibly be used during the Linseed oil paint season (August) and even then takes over a day to dry to the touch. Goes semi-matt fairly quickly.

The advantage is it doesn't crack so can be overpainted without removing the existing paint. It is said to be somewhat breathable while staying oily where it contacts the wood - the 100 year old windows I've been working on have been very well protected with the wood like new where it hasn't been subject to the modern philosophy of using waterproof materials to keep the water in.

Last year i used â€śJotun demidekk ultimate windows and doorsâ€ť on some new sash windows. Used it on recomendation from a surveyor and unconnected decorator. Big plus is you use only one product , dilute primer coats with water, penetrates very well on end grain. Goes on nicely BUT from bare wood i needed 5 coats to get the build/finish i wanted, end grain had an initial 3 coats of diluted paint.End result looks good, only a year since it was done so too early to tell how it will perform. Apparently when the time comes to redecorate ( 5-7 years has been suggested) the one product system makes for easy rubbing down and reapplication.